Here's a theory: Most people, these days, have a deep sense that things have gone wrong, in a big way, worldwide. You might call it the "Apocalyptic intuition." As Yeats put it in his poem, "The Second Coming":

"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world / … Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

When her youngest child started preschool, Oak Park photographer Eileen Molony "had a couple of hours to myself for the first time in years." She'd seen a few people around town whom she thought might make good portrait subjects.

With two months till Election Day, it's time for a state-of-the-nation-and-world assessment, and as I've long contended, the best way to encapsulate something that big is Harper's Index, the monthly, one-page collection of facts provided by Harper's Magazine (which also provides sources so you can judge the quality of the facts). I've selected a smattering of said stats to ennoble, energize (I hope not enervate) and/or educate you before voting in what promises to be a crucial election. Here goes:

Brent is a town-wanderer, much like myself. Also like me, I suspect he would rather be out walking than watching TV. Then again, many of those I see out walking are watching the "television" on their magic rectangles (aka smartphones), so maybe they've found a way to combine the two.

Last week I spent a lot of time thinking about the sex abuse accusation leveled against Ascension's Monsignor John Fitzgerald, the iconic pastor of my childhood. Decades later, I learn that the man I respected may have had a darker side.

Gail Howard graduated from Ascension School in 1961 and Trinity High School in 1965. Recently she went public in accusing former Ascension pastor Monsignor John Fitzgerald of sexually assaulting her in the Ascension rectory. The incident took place in 1964 when she was 17.

I graduated from college 40 years ago. The rest of that summer — the first summer of the rest of my life — was consumed by the national melodrama of Richard Nixon's resignation. The oil embargo had caused a severe economic downturn, complicated by high inflation, so 1974 wasn't the best time to launch.

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